Rebirth of Xiangjiang - 1978

"With a budget of two million, who can we look for to shoot?"

Lin Daoqiu approved the script of "Menggui Mission", but the review he gave it was a complete bad movie.

So even if the script was approved, Liu Zhenwei and Wong Kar-wai were not happy.

But now they have no choice. Liu Zhenwei wants to prove to Lin Daoqiu that at least he can make a good movie.

And Liu Zhenwei also believed that Lin Daoqiu should not have high expectations for him. After all, the script was indeed as Lin Daoqiu said, and it was indeed not good.

But the problem is that with a budget of two million, it is naturally impossible to invite big names to participate.

If this movie can find Lin Zhengying to play the leading role, Liu Zhenwei feels that it will be able to earn at least 20 million at the box office by then.

But it's a pity that the budget of two million, not to mention Lin Zhengying's salary, is probably not even enough for the production fee.

It has long been known in the film and television industry that Lin Zhengying is serious about filming film and television dramas.

If you want to cast him in a movie or as the leading actor, even if you can't come up with a good script, the budget of the movie must not be small.

If Lin Zhengying were to film "Menggui Mission", it would have required a budget of at least 10 million.

But now Liu Zhenwei and Wong Kar-wai only have a budget of 2 million, and it is impossible to hire Lin Zhengying, so this idea was quickly eliminated by them.

"It's very simple. We can't afford big-name stars, so we can only find small-name stars or newcomers to shoot, but..."

Wong Kar-wai suddenly stopped when he said this.

If some unknown celebrities are invited to film, then the audience may not buy tickets at all, and the box office will definitely be very ugly.

"I think it's like this. Find something famous but not that expensive, limit the salary to 1.2 million, and leave 800,000 to make the film. I think it will work."

"Eight hundred thousand to make a movie? Do you think this was ten years ago?"

Wong Kar-Wai looked at Liu Zhenwei in surprise. He felt that the other party's idea was too naive.

You know, if it was ten years ago, spending two million to make a movie would definitely be a big production.

But now if you spend two million to make a movie, you can only make low-cost comedies.

"But you just said that you should find some famous but not expensive actors. I thought of a kind of person..."

Wong Kar-Wai was originally refuting Liu Zhenwei's words, but at this time, based on what Liu Zhenwei said just now, he suddenly thought of a star that was cheap and could attract audiences.

"You don't want to find a singer to film, do you?"

Liu Zhenwei asked nervously.

Wong Kar-wai smiled and nodded, he indeed had such an idea.

You must know that there are many singers in the film industry in Hong Kong who have crossed over from the music industry to film movies. It can even be said that there are almost no singers who have not crossed over to film and television dramas.

Among these people, Xu Guanjie and Leslie Cheung are definitely the most representative figures, and Alan Tam and Zhong Zhentao are also among them.

However, they absolutely cannot afford to hire these four people, and even if they are guest stars, it will be difficult to hire them.

Because Liu Zhenwei and Wong Kar-wai don't have that much reputation at all, so they can invite each other to come over and play a cameo role.

Since those big names cannot be invited, Liu Zhenwei and Wong Kar-wai can only move their attention downwards.

"Jacky Cheung, what do you think?"

"You want to invite Jacky Cheung?"

Wong Kar-Wai looked at Liu Zhenwei in surprise. After receiving a positive reply from the other party, he couldn't help but look suspicious.

Jacky Cheung is a new star in the Hong Kong music scene. He started filming three years ago and has been filming for three years now.

Last year alone, he participated in the filming of nine movies.

If Jacky Cheung had been hired three years ago, his salary would have been less than 100,000 yuan.

But at this time Jacky Cheung's salary had reached one million per movie.

Compared with the salaries of those big names, which often cost millions per film, Jacky Cheung can be said to be very cheap.

"I can't afford it. If I invite him, I have to invite others. That's not enough at all."

Wong Kar-Wai shook his head. If he hired Jacky Cheung, it would be equivalent to spending half of the budget on him.

If only 200,000 are left to hire other supporting actors, this money is simply not enough.

"If 600,000 yuan can invite him to film, what do you think?"

"If the price of 600,000 can bring Jacky Cheung here, then I think this method is feasible, but the problem is that he has already increased the price. Can you convince him to accept the price of 600,000?"

Wong Kar Wai didn't believe that Lau Chun Wai was that capable, considering that this was a full 40% less salary.

Moreover, the two of them are not famous directors, so the other party has no reason to lower the price to make their movie.

In addition, their film is not a good film. Unless Jacky Cheung and his agent are blind, Wong Kar-Wai feels that the other party is unlikely to accept their request for a price reduction.

"I have a solution, don't worry."

Liu Zhenwei looked confident, which made Wong Kar-wai very curious.

"If you are sure, then give it a try, but I declare in advance that you cannot pay even one penny more than the 600,000 yuan salary."

Wong Kar-Wai's attitude is very resolute. The script is already bad enough. If the production costs are spent on the salary, the possibility of their film being a flop will be greatly increased.

If this was the case, he would rather find a group of new people to shoot and spend the production costs on the movie, rather than spending a lot of money to find stars and occupy the cost of making the movie.

…………

"You want to film with Xueyou? Of course, no problem, I'll go over now."

Chen Ziqiang is Jacky Cheung's agent. After receiving a call from Liu Zhenwei asking him to have coffee, Chen Ziqiang didn't think much and drove directly to the coffee shop he had made an appointment with.

After entering the coffee shop, Chen Ziqiang found that besides Liu Zhenwei, there was a guy wearing sunglasses sitting next to him.

"This is director Wong Kar-Wai, and this is Jacky Chan's agent, Mr. Chen Ziqiang."

Liu Zhenwei briefly introduced their identities to both parties.

After a few brief greetings, the three of them sat down.

"The reason we invited Mr. Chen here this time is because we are preparing to shoot a new movie and we plan to ask Jacky to be the leading actor in this movie."

When Chen Ziqiang heard what Liu Zhenwei said, he naturally nodded happily.

"Thank you both for your support. Jacky is a very serious and studious young man. The directors who work with him all say this about him. It is definitely the right choice for you to film with him."

Chen Ziqiang has not yet noticed the true intentions of Liu Zhenwei and Wong Kar-wai.

But before that, he had to figure out what kind of movie Liu Zhenwei and the others wanted Jacky Cheung to make, because it had a lot to do with the pay.